Page 18 of Wicked Flirt
“Clever,” he murmured.And why hadn’t he thought of that?
“I’m a problem solver,” she said in a singsong voice.
She was something. He suddenly wanted to hug her, but she was across the table from him, and he couldn’t figure out a way to do it without being awkward.
“We talked about you.” She smiled mischievously, her eyes practically dancing with glee. “I told her how little Rose loved you, and guess who she told me about?”
He rubbed his forehead, avoiding eye contact. “Who?”
“Bitty Kitty!” She flexed her nonexistent bicep muscles and attempted to do a gruff he-man voice. “Big hulking teenaged Marcus hiding a tiny white kitten in his jacket pocket.” She laughed. “She told me all about how you tried to smuggle her home, covering up her meows with fake coughs and sneezes.”
He jabbed a finger at her and said in mock anger, “Hey! Bitty Kitty was a special cat. Not like the regular kind. She’d come when I called her like a dog.”
She didn’t laugh this time. Instead she looked at him warmly, tenderly, like she actuallylikedhim at his embarrassing worst. “Your mom felt bad you couldn’t keep her because of the apartment rules. She told me you visited Bitty Kitty at Ben’s grandmother’s house for years.”
He grunted. “It was nice of Mrs. Walsh to take her in.”
“You loved her.”
He jerked his chin. The love of his life. “She lived to be sixteen. Lost her a couple of years back.”
“Aww, Marcus! You should get another cat.”
He shook his head. “Nobody can replace Bitty.”
She smiled at him, another warm tender smile. He swallowed hard, surprised at how much that warm tender smile affected him, feeling kinda warm himself, even in the throes of mom-induced embarrassment.
“Anyway,” she said, “I gave your mom the number of a local psychiatrist that Sabrina recommended. The woman specializes in agoraphobia and does phone sessions to help her clients learn to handle their anxiety and reenter the world.”
Something in him cracked open, a flood of emotions hitting him all at once—pure elation, gooey affection, tremendous relief. He was grateful too, so humbly grateful he couldn’t even speak, his eyes stinging.
Lexi must’ve noticed because she looked down at her laptop screen, giving him a moment to pull it together. “It went okay. She took the suggestion in the friendly well-meaning way that I offered it. I’ll text you the doctor’s info so you can arrange payment if she does call.”
He found his voice. “Lexi.” He waited for her to meet his eyes. “Thank you.” He put a hand over his aching chest. “From the bottom of my heart.”
She shrugged, her eyes shifting away. “No big.”
“No. It’s very big. Thank you.”
She met his eyes, her voice quiet. “You’re welcome.”
“Does she still think you’re my girlfriend or…”
“I acted like you wereall that—” she waved a hand airily “—you know, just to encourage her to keep talking to me, so I think she assumed we were together.”
He couldn’t get past the fact that his mom was cool with Lexi now. Not only that, she didn’t seem to mind them being together. He would’ve heard about it right away if she still objected.
He couldn’t help his smile. “I’m all that, huh?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head. I was making amends, fixing what I screwed up for you since you were nice enough to give me this job when I really needed one. Should we get started?”
“Is it okay if we let her think we’re together a while more? I think it’s helping her. I know that sounds weird, but—”
“Marcus, it’s fine. Really. Besides, I’m getting all the goods on you. She even showed me your baby pictures. Classic naked-butt pose too.” She grinned.
He shook his head, smiling. “What can you do? Proud mom.”
“And you were hung!”
